+ GMT Select Your Local Time London GMT Johannesburg Lagos Cairo Accra Mogadishu Abuja Cape Town Free Town Addis Ababa Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Australia Sydney Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Brazil East Brazil West Canada Toronto Canada Pacific China Beijing Cuba Cyprus Denmark Egypt Ethiopia Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hon Kong Hungary India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kenya Korea (Rep. of) Kuwait Lebanon Liberia Libya Luxemburg Malaysia Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Mexico City Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Moscow Russia Vladivostok Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore South Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Trinidad And Tobago Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom USA Washington USA San Francisco USA New York USA Hawaii Venezuela Yemen Zaire Kinshasa Zaire Katanga Zambia Zimbabwe STO
[Pacific Sighting] See Makkah Clock
Searching EsinIslam بحث موقع
Home | Explore | Broadcasters | Media | Donations | About Us | Contact | Fatwa | Our Sheikh
Save
Xenophobia Another Ugly Face Of South Africa May Flare-up Again Soon
29 July 2009
Cape Town mayor Dan Plato says the city is on "high alert" to prevent a flare-up of xenophobic violence after seven Somali shops in Samora Machel and Gugulethu townships this week were forced by local business operators to close. "We are aware of the problems and we are working closely with the South African Police Service and engaging community leadership," said Plato. "We need to work and live together in peace and harmony." Although some of the shops have since reopened, tensions are rising over the lower prices offered by foreign-owned shops and their proliferation close to locally owned businesses. Plato said local residents were complaining that the containers used for their spaza shops were being stolen, which had happened in his ward in Uitsig. "Incidents like this can spark off violence quite easily," he said, "and we need to negotiate with people and call for restraint." The government should regulate the opening of shops and assist in controlling and mediating the situation, said Abdi Ahmed Aden, deputy chairperson of the Somali Association of South Africa in the Western Cape. "We think people act with criminal intent and this is what is happening in the townships when they forcibly close down shops." As a result of negotiations with locals, an agreement was reached that Somali business owners would check first with the association before opening up anywhere, he said, but this did not always happen, as some would-be shop owners had no work papers and needed to earn a living. A police intelligence operative told the Mail & Guardian that residents resisted the move to shut down the Somali shops in Gugulethu as they could not afford the higher prices at the local shops. "The government needs to ensure they bring down the price of essential goods so the local business people can bring down their prices," he said. "Foreigners are managing to offer lower prices because they seem to be able to buy in bulk. It is causing extreme tension in Gugulethu." He said that Somali business people were buying up local businesses at "give-away" prices as people battled the economic downturn. During mediation attempts with traders in Gugulethu earlier this month, Somali shopkeepers were told to move their shops 100m away from their local competitors. The Anti-Eviction Campaign's coordinator, Mncedisi Twalo, said township business owners and traders were willingly participating in mediation efforts, but he said the organisation was running low on funding to keep up the much-needed mediation. Twalo said a meeting he had held this week with local township business operators revealed how emotional they were about the foreign competition threatening their livelihood. But it is the government that is destroying the livelihood of informal traders and small businesses by allowing the invasion of large corporations and shopping malls, said Twalo. Minister turns attention to Balfour protests Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba began a series of meetings in Balfour, Mpumalanga, on Monday to discuss the recent protests there, his spokesperson, Cleo Mosana, said. Meetings were under way by 9am as planned, with Gigaba expected to discuss the displacement of at least 100 foreign nationals living in the largely agricultural belt east of Johannesburg. The schedule includes a visit to the region's municipal offices and meetings with community leaders and those affected by the violence, to gather various viewpoints on the protests. About 30 foreign nationals ran to the safety of the Balfour police station last week after some people turned on them during what were initially described as service-delivery protests. The delegation was expected to include the deputy minister of police and the deputy minister of justice. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka released a report last week on the preliminary findings of a study on a recent spate of protests across the country. Researchers flagged a lack of responsiveness to issues raised by communities, tensions between political and administrative sections of some municipalities, allegations of fraud and corruption, ward committees not functioning at their full capacity, and poor planning. The Dipaleseng Local Municipal Council and Community Representatives met last week and released a declaration on Friday, pledging themselves to the restoration of peace and stability in the area. Meanwhile, police spokesperson Captain Leonard Hlathi said there had been no problems over the weekend.
EsinIslam.Com
Sign In Password